Clay for drinking water now in Bauko

By Aldwin Quitasol

BAUKO, Mountain Province — Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Cordillera Regional Director Rogelio Sicat said that a facility for developing clay to turn even floodwater into a potable or drinking water will be set up here in Barangay Bila.

Sicat said it is called clay ceramic filter technology wherein people especially during times of disasters can be able to produce safe drinking water from springs, creeks or even floods. He said this will save time, effort and even money in airlifting or transporting by land or seas bottled waters to be delivered to disaster stricken communities as the people are now enabled to seek for immediate relief that such is water by using the clay technology.

Sicat during a media forum in observance of July as the National Disaster Prevention Month in Baguio said that this is a DOST technology.

He added this is already proven to be effective in ceramic clay facility in Tarlac province.

He said the construction and development of the facility in Bila will need P5 million. He said the most expensive one is the kiln for cooking clay. He explained this will be the major equipment in cooking the clay filter. He added that the materials are already there and there is already an ongoing bidding for the construction of the kiln.

Sicat said that this kiln will be electric driven because it require so much temperature so that the clay will really be developed such that its openings would be around 0.2 microns. He said that such size of an opening will ensure that there will be no micro-organisms can pass through it. “Para ang lalabas na tubig sa container ay siguradong safe dahil ang mga harmful organisms ay maiiwan sa ibabaw,” (so that the water coming out from the container is sure safe as the harmful organisms will be left behind) he added.

The director said that the country will not import water filters from other countries in Europe and other South East Asian countries once this technology will be developed in the Philippines. He said that such filters bought from abroad are the ones being used in water filtration systems of the country especially the portable ones. “Now, we will manufacture it here in our country,” he said.

Sicat said that the smallest kind of clay filter which is the household type to be developed can produce around two to four liters of drinking water for eight hours. He said this will be sufficient for each family. He said that a clay will cost a little more than a hundred pesos.

He said that the kiln to be constructed will be able to cook a hundred units a day. He stressed that the facility will be for free courtesy of DOST and they will partner with the local government unit (LGU) of Bauko. He said it will be a self liquidating project where the host LGU should be able to employ ways of maintaining it.